


The healer and the singing bird

by Humanelyhuman94



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Doctor/Patient, Jealous Harry, Multi, Oblivious Louis Tomlinson, One Direction Hiatus, Pining, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22056463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humanelyhuman94/pseuds/Humanelyhuman94
Summary: Louis is a kind and extremely caring pediatrician who doesn't have time for romance, Harry's nephew is admitted under his care. Harry doesn't know the depth of his crush yet.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Dr. Lou, Dr. Lou have you checked the transfusion notes of your patient in ward 3?"

Nurse Cynthia caught up with Louis as he was leaving the main building to enter the cafeteria.

"Dammit, I did check it, but I forgot to mention that the weight of the baby wasn't present in the intern's notes." sighed Louis, "I will let him know when I see him, what's his name? The fidgety kid with glasses?" He asked as he arrived at the counter.

"Niall or something like that, I only know that because he's very very loud. He's a good kid but man does he have a loud voice!" Cynthia shook her head and then frowned, "you distract me from work doctor, I'm supposed to be signing the diet sheet now." She winked and left the cafe. 

Cynthia was cute in a sisterly way, she was crazy helpful in the early years of Louis' residency program. The years where consultants were brutally strict with residents who weren't competent. Louis didn't have much problem with competence but his sensitive side pissed a lot of people many times. The first day when he couldn't help but cry after seeing a couple lose their only boy to an incurable brain tumor, will always stay in his memory. His professor didn't know him at all and seeing him cry made the senior so angry because according to his books it was non professional. Louis had toughened up to some extent since then but not before his kind nature became a joke among his colleagues. If he didn't have Cynthia and Zayn he'd have lost a lot of his confidence and would not have become one of the best senior residents in pediatrics department of Martyrs Memorial Hospital. 

He took his tea and bagel, something which has become a routine for him in the last 2 years, and found an empty table near the window. The lake outside the window was reflecting the sunrays in a manner that gave the false illusion of warmth. Louis didn't fall for that sort of nature's trickery. He knew it was freezing outside and he preferred the insides during such day due to his oversensitivity to cold. 

"Hey Dr. Lou, can we sit here? There's no space anywhere else or we wouldn't have bothered you!" The fidgety kid, Niall asked him reluctantly. He had a girl and a boy with him. His Irish accent made him distinct and even though he was respectful in how he addressed Louis, Louis knew that kid didn't feel intimidated by anything. He had made the mistake of taking that kid for a shy one and he'd paid for that. His encouragement had unleashed a monster and 3 months of rotation with that monster was not easy. Louis kept forgetting his name but his voice and face were imprinted on his brain forever.

"Of course, sit and enlighten us with knowledge of things we have no interest in, kiddo." Louis said good naturedly. 

"Thank you, Dr Lou." Niall didn't mind using nicknames of his seniors. They were kind of obliged to call each other Dr otherwise Louis was sure he would have called him Lou or maybe something else.

"I saw your transfusion notes today, the baby's weight was missing. Rest of the notes were good. But Dr Clark would scold you if he saw that. Add that detail as soon as you can." Louis told Niall in a non threatening way. He didn't believe in scaring his juniors and was friendly enough to invite discussions with his interns. 

"Oh Dr. Lou, I asked the mother to hand me the babe so that I could weigh her myself. But the kid wouldn't stop giggling so in the end we both ended up giggling and I couldn't do my job. I'm sorry I'll add that as soon as I finish my lunch." Niall looked so serious while narrating the story, Louis didn't know how to react to that. 

" Well, considering how important giggling is for our noble profession, I assure you, you're on the path to become the greatest doctor who ever lived." Louis deadpanned. The girl, Mary and the other serious looking boy with him, sniggered. Niall laughed loudly. There wasn't anything that offended the kid, which was kinda annoying at times. But Louis liked him fine. He did make ward rounds fun. 

The other boy, Liam, started asking Louis about the management of pneumonia in a voice that was loaded with respect. Louis knew he was famous among interns for his good management skills and for his knowledge, and if Louis hadn't had a conversation about Liam's childhood with him, he would have thought he was a kiss ass, now he thought Liam was sweet. The girl Mary looked like she harbored a huge crush on Niall and was just happy to hang out with him. She was really good at her work though, a bit shy but an excellent doctor. 

Louis explained the management in detail patiently and after that, he took his leave and went back to the ward because he'd been paged.

\-----------

Louis entered ward 8 and saw that a patient was admitted by the emergency doctor in his ward. He felt a bit irritated because the new A & E resident thought he had all the control and didn't bother informing him before shifting the patient to his ward. It was the protocol but sometimes annoying people did annoying things. Louis sighed and started to walk towards the patient when suddenly he felt something hugging his leg, he looked down and saw one of his patients, Lucy, near his feet who was hugging him. His heart suddenly filled up with love, he bowed down and picked her up. 

"Hi, Love, what are you doing up? Isn't this your nap time?" He asked her, she was 4, it's always a nap time for kids her age. Doctors weren't usually advised to handle patients without proper sanitary measures but to Louis human contact felt artificial if he had to stop every 5 minutes to wash his hand. He had his sanitizer with him that he used after touching a patient without letting them see him use. He didn't want kids to think they were dirty.

"Lou, I drew a picture of you. Will you color it with me?" She asked him while placing her color filled hand on his left cheek. 

"As soon as I am free darling, I'll come back to you. Now let me go and let me help the little boy over there who needs some kisses." He kissed her nose lightly and put her down. 

"Can I come with you and see him?" She asked innocently.

"Not now but if the parents allow for it and he feels better, maybe you guys can play together." He tapped her face and she smiled at him and then ran to her bed.

Louis smiled at her fondly, that sweet kid had become so attached to him for some unknown reason and she gave him kisses and hugs randomly as soon as she saw him. It had only been a week but Louis felt like he'd known her since forever. Her father had given him their house number as well in case he wanted to stay in touch. Louis had a lot of numbers and he did stay in touch with a lot of families and never lacked invitation to join families for Christmas. 

He walked towards the new patient and looked at the father and the mother. The nurse had finished taking the vitals and was just finishing her part of the file. 

"Sorry about that, that kid loves to hug." He said in a friendly tone with a smile. The father who was a tall, handsome man with long hair and green eyes, smiled in return. The mother had a worried look on her face but as Louis went through the file, he knew she didn't have much to worry about. The kid had some dehydration due to gastric upset and was likely to recover sooner rather than later. 

"My name is Dr. Louis Tomlinson, I'll be the main attending physician for Jason." He shook hands with both of them and then turned his attention to the 3 year old who was one of the prettiest kids he'd ever seen. Louis didn't find that surprising. His parents were extraordinarily beautiful. His bisexual meter usually didn't start buzzing around attendants because they were off limits but they were both breathtaking and Louis knew how to appreciate beauty. Louis slapped himself mentally and his soft voice reserved for the kids came out,

"Hey Jason, will you please shake my hand, it's cold?" He extended his hand to the kid, who looked scared because of his white coat.  
Jason still looked scared but when Louis stuck his tongue out, Jason smiled a bit. Louis didn't mind being goofy for his patients. His patients were everything to him and whatever anyone thought about him didn't matter to him as long as his patients cooperated. 

"Can you start from the beginning when he was alright? What happened?" He asked the mother who had jet black hair and eyes that were shaped like the eyes of the guy she was standing with. Creepy coincidence, Louis thought. The mother, who introduced herself as Gemma Styles, began describing the condition of the patient. Apparently they'd gone to a new fast food restaurant and Jason only had some fries and became sick. The other people who had the same fries didn't get any symptoms though. Louis kept writing notes on the file for documentation with his right hand while with his left, he kept messing up Jason's hair who was giggling by now. 

When he saw the father's name in the file, it read Mark. He looked up at the guy standing, the guy was looking at him with a smile on his face. He had a weird feeling that he was being watched constantly. To Louis he didn't feel like a Mark, his name should be something stylish, he thought and then stopped, what the hell was he thinking?

"What do you do Mr. Mark?" He asked the guy casually because he had to fill the form about the guardians. 

"I'm Harry Styles." The dimpled cheeks emerged and he offered no further explanation. Louis didn't know how to handle such weirdness .

"Mark is Jason's dad and he is currently in Ethiopia working with his NGO." Gemma explained to Louis, he perceived some movement which looked suspiciously like Gemma elbowing him in the ribs. "My brother is helping me out since he's on a break from his work, he will be staying with Jason most of the times."

"I'm not sure what's the verdict on uncles staying with patients in general ward, usually only mothers are allowed in the ward. You might have to get a separate room if anyone other than the mother or father is to stay, you'll have to talk to the management." Louis explained while still looking at the file and filling different boxes. He didn't know why but he was feeling flustered because of this Harry. Whose stylish name actually turned out to be Styles. He wanted to ask the guy the reason of his creepy stares because he was sure this was some kind of harassment but the smile on his face was so innocent and genuine that he didn't feel creeped out. He just felt really conscious. 

"We will talk to the administrator Dr. Lou, thank you for letting us know." Louis stopped his head from snapping up, he had introduced himself to enough attendants to know that he didn't use his nickname for the introduction. This Harry was something else. Louis decided to ignore this overly charismatic guy completely from that point in order to protect his sanity.

"Alright, I'll now examine Jason, Miss Gemma can you please help me with that?" Louis started to examine the kid and made small talk in a baby voice, he was told it was funny to see a grown man talking in that voice but kids loved that so he didn't care. 

"Blueeeeee" Jason suddenly screamed in his face, Louis was startled but he asked him gently, "what's blue, love?" 

"Your eyes. I want blue eyes mum. Uncle Harry has green but I want blue ones." He pouted and if that wasn't the cutest thing Louis had seen, he didn't know what was.

"You have pretty and sparkling eyes, darling, why would you want my boring blue ones? They don't sparkle when I talk, did you know your eyes have electric lights? Mine don't." He himself pouted to maximize the effect. Jason started poking his own eyes and well that kinda backfired but Jason seemed satisfied. He held Jason's hand and Jason started playing with his ID card that was hanging from his coat's pocket. When Louis began examining his abdomen, Jason wouldn't stop laughing because it tickled. Louis tickled him deliberately to keep the laughter going. He loved kids, it was evident to everyone who saw him. He loved his profession as well and he never thought twice about his actions before interacting with kids. 

After finishing up the examination and succeeding in ignoring that Harry's constant staring, he left to check on his other patients. His mind kept wandering to Harry Styles, he had a feeling he had heard the name before. He decided to Google the name as soon as he had some time. This day was already taking longer than he wanted it to but he didn't have anything interesting going on at home so he stayed in the doctors lounge till 11 at night. Zayn was going on a date and house was most likely empty. He went to say goodbye to Lucy, who was out of her bed again for God knows what reason and was talking animatedly with one of the nurses. She really was a sweet heart. 

"Goodnight sweetheart, let me take you to your bed." He held out his hand and Lucy jumped into his embrace. She kissed his cheek and he tapped her face. 

"Mum says she can't read me any story, can you do that Lou?" She asked while rubbing her eyes. Louis wanted to say no badly but he just couldn't. Kids rendered him helpless. 

"Of course, love." He whispered and then laid her down on her bed. Her mother was yawning and fighting her sleep in order to keep an eye on her. Louis bid her goodnight and asked her if he could read Lucy a story, she thanked him and laid down on her bed. Louis made up a story and started telling Lucy that with actions, she fell asleep within three minutes which was kind of insulting because was he that boring? Rude! 

He tucked her in her blanket, surveyed the other patients and closed the light after making sure none of the kids were having disturbed sleep. He had a small smile on his face as he got out of the ward. Kids always put him in a good mood. He was looking down at his phone when he heard a deep "ahem" from the staff counter facing the ward. He looked up and saw Harry from before standing with the same weird smile on his face. First of all, why was he so beautiful? Louis asked God and why did he always look so smug about something?

"Yes, can I help you?" He asked professionally. 

"Can you?" Harry spoke in a flirtatious manner. 

"Well, does Jason need me right now, I'm leaving but I can send the doctor on duty to his ward." Louis refused to be charmed by this guy who took liberties in a manner that was totally baffling. He looked harmless but Louis didn't have the time or the energy to engage in flirtation. 

"No, he's fine, we have a private room at the end of this corridor, my sister is staying the night with him. I'll be resuming my uncle responsibilities from tomorrow onwards." Harry explained and Louis noticed his voice was really really attractive. Louis had to snap out of it soon because this was getting ridiculous. 

"I'll see him tomorrow, meanwhile you can call the nursing staff if any issue arises. They'll notify me if it's too serious. The kid will recover soon hopefully." He informed Harry who had stopped smiling and now had a look of disappointment on his face. What the hell?

"Okay, Dr. Lou, goodnight. Have a good one." He smiled and started walking away.

"It's Dr Louis." Louis murmured under his breath because for some reason, he didn't want to see the disappointment on the face of this ridiculous man. If Harry heard him, he didn't acknowledge that and walked away as if he owned the place. 

\---------

Louis googled Harry Styles the moment he got into his bed and to no surprise of his, he found out that Harry used to be a famous singer in a boyband. Which had gone on a hiatus 3 years back and the singers had all stopped making music for some time. Louis was surprised no one in the ward made a big deal out of it. Usually gossip like that spread faster than the speed of light in his ward. But then he realized he hadn't interacted with a lot of people since the afternoon because he was busy with his research work. 

Louis felt more motivated to ignore Harry's existence from then on.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry didn't know why he was acting like a total creep but he couldn't help but get up early so as to catch Dr. Lou on his way to work. He didn't know why his mind took the liberty of referring to him as Dr. Lou instead of Dr. Louis but he knew he wanted to give him more nicknames. Harry had never been so utterly attracted to someone, he couldn't stop looking at the tiny doctor who was more beautiful than all the men he had ever dated, combined. More beautiful than some of the models he dated as well. And when Jason had suddenly shouted "blue" he had felt as though Jason had heard what his heart was screaming from the moment the doctor looked at him. His eyes were so damn blue and suited his face so well. He really was a piece of art and Harry had planned on charming him to death. But that doctor was probably the only person he'd met who wasn't thoroughly interested in him. He had been so professional that Harry had to take a step back but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Jason was expected to stay in the hospital for 5 days and Harry had planned on staying there as much as he could. Gemma had told him to behave but she knew he didn't usually chase people on his own. His field didn't allow him to be his charming and harmlessly flirtatious anymore, he was portrayed as a womanizer by the media because of his innocent antics, his label did everything it could to make sure that image stuck so that his being interested in men wasn't a news. Judging from Dr. Lou's expressions he didn't know much about Harry, but if he had googled him Harry hoped he wouldn't tick him off of his list of potential dates if he was into men. Harry didn't even want to consider that the doctor was straight. That was too painful a thing to think about. 

Harry needed a slap to the face to bring him back to reality. He wanted to stop being so obsessed but sadly his feet wouldn't listen to him. He got ready and left home at 7:45 in the morning, a time he would never get up on otherwise. He drove his SUV so as not to look like he was showing off his wealth if he arrived in his Bentley. He was just getting out of the SUV when he saw Dr. Lou enter the hospital, he rushed to the gate but slowed near the entrance so that it looked casual. God, he was pathetic but his crush was making him stupid. It was out of his control. 

"Hi, Dr. Lou" Harry greeted casually but deep down he was hoping to see the same smile that was on the doctor's face last night as he was putting the girl to sleep. Why would he get that smile, Harry had no idea but the heart wants what it wants. 

"Hello, Mr. Harry is it?" Dr. Lou looked sleepy but fresh at the same time. Because he was greeting everyone along the way with a smile. He didn't smile at Harry though which shouldn't have made him feel as bad as it did, considering he had no right to expect it. 

"Just Harry, how are you? Will you be visiting Jason today?" God he sounded so creepy and clingy. Harry wanted his mouth to stop making sentences and his brain to just shut down all his voice making abilities. 

"Of course, visiting all my patients is a part of my routine. Will you be staying with him today? It's a good thing you're helping your sister out." Dr. Lou stopped near the lift and asked him if he was going to the ward directly. Harry said he was. 

"My sister has helped me out of very tough spots, she is the only family I have here. And Jason is my Godson and there isn't anything I wouldn't do to make him happy." Harry could talk about Jason forever and apparently he was the only thing he could talk about without making a fool of himself in front of this beautiful doctor. He looked so handsome in his white cotton shirt and dress pants that Harry was trying very hard not to hyperventilate. Pull your self together Styles! He pinched his thighs to calm himself down.

"It's nice to see kids be so thoroughly loved. I've seen some horrible examples of parenting and I'm glad Jason has people who love him very much. You're a good uncle." Dr. Lou said it with a kind smile, Harry didn't want to see his face anymore. It was so beautiful it hurt. And to make matters worse, this doctor was genuinely nice. 

They reached the floor and Harry bid him good day and Dr. Louis smiled at him before turning to staff counter where the doctor on duty from the day before gave him reports on patients. Harry went to Jason's room where the kid was still asleep. Gemma was up and reading a book by the window, she looked at Harry in surprise. 

"Good morning dear Harry, what the hell brought you up here so early? I don't have to go to school till 9 as my first period starts at 10. You could have slept till then." She had the same expressions on her face as their mother when she suspected that Harry was doing something sneaky.

"I just wanted to meet my favorite sister and bring her breakfast! Is that a crime now?" He asked innocently even though he knew she didn't buy it for a second. 

"And where is that precious breakfast, do tell?" She raised an eyebrow and had a knowing smile on her face. "Good morning Dr. Lou" she suddenly said. Harry turned around so fast his neck probably tore a muscle. There was no one there and he could hear Gemma laugh like crazy. Harry felt his cheeks blush and turned back towards his sister slowly, not meeting her eyes.

"Okay, fine. You caught me. I have a crush on that doctor. But have you seen his face? He was sculpted with such detail Gems, he's so beautiful!" Harry whined because now that his secret was out he could whine. Gemma tch tched in sympathy and patted on his shoulder. 

"He is good looking and I feel for you, but he's too professional to be anything but that. Also I'm sure all of his female colleagues have a crush on him as well." She winked at Harry probably thinking this was a way of showing her approval. But she didn't know that piece of information didn't make him feel better. If Dr. Lou was to date anyone he would most likely date his colleagues than a popstar with a womanizer image. Harry felt sad suddenly but chose to ignore the pain. Jason was starting to wake up anyway. He went and started caressing his face.

"Morning your sleepiness, Uncle Harry is here to take your order. What would you like for breakfast? Choices include oatmeal and banana." He said with a professional waiter's voice and Jason opened his eyes with a smile. His smile always melted Harry's heart, he didn't know his heart could feel such immense love for someone but Jason has taught him that it could. 

"Uncle Harry, I wanna play outside." Of course, that outdoorsy child would have a hard time staying inside. Harry had to find activities for him to do inside the hospital. He should ask Dr. Lou, his mind provided. Shut up, he told his mind. 

"We will do that as soon as you feel better, there are bugs inside your tummy still and if you play outside then other bugs would want to play with your tummy bugs and they'd get inside." Harry wasn't known for his clean imagination so sue him. 

"Eww gross." Both Jason and Gemma said at the same time, yeah you didn't need a DNA test to prove they were related. 

"I'm going to get breakfast, what would you like Gems?" 

"Anything with some sugar and caffeine. I need to wake up before I go to school." She told him as he left the room. His eyes scanned the floor for the sign of the person he wanted to see. He couldn't see him anywhere. He felt disappointed but made his way to cafeteria. He wasn't expecting any doctor to be there since they have doctors lounge and probably cafeteria as well. He entered the cafeteria and by some law of attraction his eyes found Dr. Lou the moment he set foot. His patience was going to be tried due to some karma that was due, he was going to hate it but enjoy it too. But Dr. Lou didn't notice him, he had a paper cup in front of him and was talking on phone with a huge smile on his face and crinkles by his eyes. 

Harry felt this sudden desperate craving, he wanted, scratch that, he needed the doctor to smile at him like that as well. His face looked like sun in the morning light and it looked like he was shining. What in the hell was going on in Harry's mind! Harry wanted to slap himself again, which had never happened so fast before. He wanted to turn back and go to Jason's room when he remembered he had yet to get Gemma's breakfast. He sighed and forced himself to look away from the doctor and stood in the small line at the counter. 

He had assumed a lot about Dr. Lou, he could have a girlfriend, he could be engaged or he could have a boyfriend. As if on a cue, an absolutely breathtaking man entered the cafe and headed straight to Dr. Lou. He sat on the chair next to the doctor and took his paper cup without hesitation, he leaned into the doctor close enough to kiss his cheeks, Harry couldn't see the kiss but his insides had already turned into steel. It felt like he couldn't breathe which was a shock to his system. Why was he so jealous? And what the hell? But what hurt him more was the fact that the guy who looked like he belonged to a runway was making Lou laugh like crazy and Lou kept swatting his hand away from his cup. They looked too close to be just friends. Harry couldn't see it anymore. He took his breakfast and left the room. He didn't know whether or not he wanted to stay in the hospital for long but he didn't have a choice because Jason needed him, and his high school level obsession with a doctor wasn't going to change that. He needed to calm down. 

He also needed to casually ask someone if Dr. Louis was single. A couple of nurses had recognized him, maybe he could ask them. He was already being a creep, why not notch it up and be a proper stalker. Harry thought gloomily. 

\-----------

As soon as Harry left the cafeteria, Louis turned to Zayn,

"Okay, we can stop acting like a couple now, the boy is gone. I don't know what's his deal?" Louis whined needlessly.

"May be he has a crush on you, if I wasn't straight, I'd totally date you." Zayn casually said.

"He's Harry effing Styles, he can't possibly have a crush on a guy like me, the dude has dated Taylor Swift for God's sakes!" Louis was sure he looked shocked enough for the both of them. 

"Doesn't matter, anyone can have a crush on anyone." Zayn got up to get himself some breakfast, he had a rough night dealing with surgical emergencies and needed proper breakfast. 

Louis sat at the table glaring at his coffee, why was life playing dumb games with him? What did he do to deserve this? Why must he control himself this much so that his heart stays as intact as he can manage? 

Louis felt like a cheater for fooling a decent guy like this but he didn't know what Harry wanted. He was sure Harry didn't like him in any way no matter what Zayn said. He was his friend, hyping him up was a part of the job. Zayn knew Louis had issues in the past and he had been there since the beginning. Med school, internship and now working in the same hospital strengthened that bond. They both chose the hospital because half of the patients were treated free of cost if they couldn't afford the treatment and didn't have insurance. Louis didn't want to take his profession as a job, he wanted to help and the hospital arranged different charity events in which both Zayn and Louis participated actively. He was happy with his life even if he didn't have any special person around to keep him company. He didn't have much time for romance either. 

Louis and Zayn talked about hospital issues and upcoming charity event and Zayn cursed freely while talking about ED staff who didn't understand his basic commands and pissed him too much. Louis suspected that's because half of the staff felt intimidated by his extraordinary beauty and brooding nature. But yeah, screw them for their non professional behavior. They left the cafe together and then went on their separate ways to start the day. 

Louis started his ward rounds along with his minions slash interns, some of them weren't even his interns, they just came around to attend his rounds. His day was always brightened as soon as he would enter the wards because his patients greeted him with a bright smile usually if they weren't too sick. He greeted Kathy, his patient who was shifted from the ICU upon improvement. She was still a fragile little thing but her condition had improved, Louis caressed her face, she was 5 but her weakness made her look very young.

"Hey kiddo, wake up, we are here to say goodmorning." He said gently. Kathy opened her eyes and had a panicked look in her eyes but something in Louis' face calmed her down. He smiled at her and she gave him a weak smile. 

"Hi" she said in a tiny voice. Louis' heart felt full of love and sympathy for her. 

"Hello darling, how are you?" 

"My tummy hurts." She pointed to her chest which was probably hurting due to her labored breathing. He examined her and then shook her hand and kissed it because he didn't believe in making his patients feel like patients, he treated them as if they were his own kids. Kathy giggled and that made Louis feel better. He told his interns different things he had examined and their importance in her case. They looked at her fresh labs and X-rays and he felt relieved to see that her condition was improving. He waved her goodbye and moved on to the next patient. He was aware some of his interns were rolling their eyes at his non-professional and to some extent immature behavior but he also knew some of them were learning how to deal with kids from him. 

"Will you kiss my hand if I were a patient Dr. Lou?" Niall asked loudly even though he was aiming for shyness but that's something Niall could never pull off. Others laughed. 

"Well, Dr. Niall that depends, if you still wear your diapers then I might." Louis replied seriously. That made interns laugh even louder. 

"I'll make sure I do wear it if I came to you for treatment." Niall and embarrassment didn't belong in single sentence. 

"Well, I'll make sure they give you some lactulose to make sure your diaper stays full for some time. That will teach you to not pester paeds doctors for adult problems. Something a lot of people still can't understand." Louis laughed with them. 

"Well I'll move to your office when the medicine works, the ward doesn't deserve to have smell of dead fish in it." God, this kid. 

"I'll make sure they ban you from this floor when that happens." Louis joked as they reached their next patient. The round went smoothly and with Niall keeping them entertained, they didn't feel hours passing. The private wing's rounds started and some of the interns went to follow the orders of their beds in the ward. They reached Jason's room first and of course, Harry Styles was there. Louis heard sudden shrieks from behind him, he looked suddenly to check if anyone had fallen but instead was met with wide eyes and open mouths of his two female interns. Of course, HARRY STYLES was there! Louis rolled his eyes and gently told his interns to behave. They tried to sober up but looked so desperate to talk to Harry he felt bad for professional rules. 

"Hello Jason, how are you buddy?" He reached Jason and ruffled Jason's hair, thankfully he smiled and held Louis' hand. 

"I like your eyes." Jason said as he looked at him. Louis didn't know kids could be so affectionate but apparently he didn't know a lot of things. For example, he didn't know why Harry-staring-Styles didn't even say a word to him and was talking to his interns instead who looked like they were opening their Christmas presents. Louis didn't mind that, he just felt bad for causing things to change so dramatically. 

"Dr. Lana, can you show me how we palpate the liver in kids?" His hand was still in Jason's hand and he took this opportunity to check his hydration status. Jason was improving but for some reason his dehydration wasn't improving. 

"Mr. Harry can you tell me how many stools did he pass since last night?" He didn't know whether it was appropriate to ask an international superstar such questions but well that was his job.

"My sister told me he had three bowel movements since last night, but he did vomit once." Harry informed him dutifully. Even though he wasn't supposed to know that. 

"Ah, i see my staff has mentioned everything in here, I am sorry you had to keep a track of that." Louis joked hoping to lighten up people surrounding him. The fangirling interns weren't leaving Harry alone and he felt guilty. Harry didn't look like he minded the attention. 

"It's not a problem, anything for Jase." He looked at the kid fondly.

"Uncle Harry is going to stay with me tonight, he can sing songs in a funny voice." Jason informed Louis and he smiled at him.

'That's nice kiddo, does your tummy feel funny anywhere?" He asked, lightly tickling Jason who laughed loudly. 

"Not now, but it was feeling funny but then I pooped and I was better." Jason said in a happy tone. Louis laughed because this kid was endearing.

"I'm glad your poop made you feel good." He teased Jason and finished his examination and made notes of the findings. 

"Mr. Harry make sure he drinks lots of fluids and water so that his hydration improves, we tend to avoid giving IV fluids more than required. Oral hydration is always preferred." He looked at Harry who was looking at him in a funny way. There was some emotion in his eyes that Louis' brain wasn't willing to recognize. 

"Please call me Harry because I feel like I'm 70, I'm probably your age doctor. And of course I will make him drink every single thing on earth even if I have to force him." Harry reached Jason and pinched his nose, Jason stuck his tongue out and laughed.

"That's good to know." Louis smiled at him and then looked at his interns who were still worshipping Harry. 

"Will you please help my now useless interns out and give them an autograph or a picture so that they don't kill me later?" Louis said while rolling his eyes because he was sure none of the girls were ready to move yet.

"Of course, do you have any pen and paper with you ladies?" Harry asked them kindly. Louis was pleasantly surprised that Harry wasn't an asshole like some of the media people he'd met. 

"You can't take a picture in Jason's room, wait till Harry is out." Louis told his interns and was ready to move out when he heard one of his intern's voice saying something that looked suspiciously like, "I like his eyes too, I love that blue color" he hoped with all of his heart that the intern was chatting with Jason and not Harry. Hospital gossip was the last thing he wanted to be right now. 

He went to the nursing counter and all the interns and staff listened to him as he gave them orders for the day. When the interns left, he asked Julia about the preparation of the upcoming charity event. She told him everything was great and that he was in charge of inviting high profile guests. Louis didn't know he was in charge of anything. But he never disappointed when it came to event management. He loved that and he loved his hospital so he accepted the responsibility.

"Did you know Gemma Styles is one of our main donors?" Julia asked him casually, he was surprised to learn that. 

"It's surprising to see a donor not demand protocol for their patient and more surprising is the fact that they would get their patient admitted to a place they donate to and not think it's beneath them." He voiced his opinion which might be a bit judgmental but with the experience he'd had, he knew it was true.

"She actually got the kid referred from a different hospital because she believed we were doing things better than a lot of other hospitals. Which is a pretty great thing to do." Julia explained. Louis was definitely impressed with Gemma's generosity. 

"Do you think you can invite Harry Styles to the fiesta?" Julia asked and Louis sighed, of course he knew this was coming. All that Gemma talk wasn't for nothing. 

"Jules, love what makes you think he will come to a low-key event like this?" Louis knew his tone was sarcastic and he was probably being unfair but he just didn't approve of capitalistic view of life where rich people got richer and poor people got poorer. He knew Harry hadn't done anything yet to warrant that kind of judgement and he would probably agree to come to the event, he just couldn't be excited about that. 

"From what I've read about him, Harry Styles does a lot of charity work and loves kids alot. He's always bringing kids to the stage with him. He would agree, I have a very strong feeling and since you're in charge of inviting guests, this is your responsibility." She said cheekily. Louis felt like the whole universe was conspiring against him, he was trying to avoid Harry Styles for goodness sakes, couldn't he do that peacefully? He knew there was a deep rooted reason for his avoidance but he wasn't going to explore that. 

"Okay I'll see what I can do, but no promises!" He gritted his teeth but Julia had a smile on her face knowing she'd won this round.


	3. Chapter 3

"Lou, can you cover my shift tonight? My sister got diagnosed with Acute appendicitis and she's having urgent surgery because apparently the infection has spread, I need to go to the hospital now and I probably won't be able to do my night shift today." Dr. Millie suddenly came into view as Louis was about to leave the counter and it looked like she walked way too fast to reach Louis because she was panting. And what? Louis needed tonight to be free because he had a football game to watch that he was excited for. But seeing the look on Millie's face he had no choice but to agree. 

"I'm so sorry to hear that Millie, of course I'll cover your shift, anything I can do to help your family?" He was genuinely concerned because she was a friend even though he was disappointed at this turn of events.

"No thanks Lou, you're a sweetheart. I'll go get my stuff. I've put all the patients' notes in the register. Call me if you don't understand anything. Niall and Liam will be on duty with you so hopefully you'll have a good time. I'll cover your next call for you." She looked really grateful, he reassured her and wished her sister speedy recovery. 

At least Niall and Liam will be around, from what he knew Niall was a football enthusiast as well so maybe they'll cry together or watch football and have a grand time of it. He texted Zayn about the change of plans, he knew Zayn would be dead to the world post call so he didn't expect a reply any time soon, he expected indecent texts later because this was football night but he had no choice. 

The charity event was in two weeks, it was at a park near the hospital where swing sets and different activities for kids and adults were arranged like a carnival and a small concert was arranged at the end for charity. It was termed Fiesta by the residents and now it was officially called that. Louis knew he didn't have much time so as soon as his rounds ended, he gave briefing to Niall and Liam about the work they were supposed to do and told them to inform him of all the lab results, and he then drew up a list of people he could invite.   
High profile people included his dad and his friends, who were very prominent figures in the business world. His dad owned a small chain of banks but his business acumen made him a known member of business world, he appeared on a lot of programs on TV and gave his analysis on the current affairs of the world. Louis could also invite his mum who was a known socialite and was a social media activist. She had a lot of followers and had started some movements by herself concerning body positivity and equality. Louis was proud of his parents and he knew he got his philanthropic side from his mum, who was also the first one he told about his sexuality. He then wrote down the names of people who had attended previous charity events, some of them were football players of different clubs of England, a singer named Ed Sheeran who did a lot of charity work, the main singers in the event were a band called 5 SOS who had graciously agreed to sing at the event. Louis liked their songs and there was a member of the band Louis might have had a little crush on, so overall he was excited to see the band, but if Harry Styles showed up Louis had a feeling the event would be a much bigger success. Other people were just important dignitaries whom they knew through Zayn's mother who was the first Muslim female MP in Bradford, she was a very kind hearted woman and always helped with the charities. Louis also invited his sisters and their friends, some of them were still in school with Phoebe and Daisy.

After finishing his list, he looked at the time, he only had 2 hours to finish his work till the match started at 9, he got his tea and then walked towards Jason's room. Laughter could be heard from inside the room, one deep sound and the other one belonging to Jason. Louis knocked on the door and he saw Harry's eyes widen in surprise and his dimpled smile took one second to appear. Louis didn't know why but he just couldn't help but notice Harry's dimples, no wonder he was an international sweetheart, his smile was just endearing. 

"Am I disturbing anything? This isn't a medical call so I can come back later." Louis asked with a smile. Harry motioned him to come in.

"Hello, Dr. Blue." Jason waved at him and Louis laughed.

"Who is Dr. Blue, love?" Louis inquired.

"You, uncle Harry calls you Dr. Lou and your eyes are blue, so I will call you Dr. Blue." Jason explained as if it was the most logical explanation. Louis couldn't help but laugh fondly, he looked at Harry who for some reason had a pink blush on his face but he was smiling. 

"I love that name, now what were you laughing about, love?" Louis sat beside him at his bed as Jason moved to make space for him. 

"Uncle Harry was showing me his videos, he fell down so many times on the stage, it's so funny. I'll show you. Uncle Harry please open the mobile, I want to show Dr. Blue your video." Jason insisted.

"Jase, no that was for you only because you can't make fun of me yet, but apparently I was wrong. Even you're taking a piss at me, I thought you were my best mate." Harry whined genuinely. Louis didn't know whether to laugh at this man-baby or sympathize with him. After all, it's not easy to fall in front of thousands of people. 

"It's okay Jason, we can tease Uncle Harry later. For now I don't want to make him mad because I have a favor to ask of him." He turned his attention to Harry, who now looked properly surprised and weirdly hopeful.

"Really? Do you want to ask him out on a date? He is always talking about how he has no one to have babies with, mum says he should wait but he says he needs a baby now." Louis knew kids had no filter but at that moment he wished that Jason did have a filter. He felt awkward as hell. Harry was blushing furiously now which was not helping things and which didn't make sense. 

"Well, kind of a date if he agrees." Louis pinched Jason's nose to diffuse the tension in the air. 

"Really?" Harry looked too hopeful for someone who was supposed to take this as a joke.

"Well, not exactly but there is a charity event coming up for the hospital, I'm in charge of invitations and well my staff is pestering me to invite you. I'd love it if you came but I can't possibly force you to come just because my staff is full of fangirling adults." Louis explained earnestly.

"When is the event?" Harry asked and it didn't feel like he was going to refuse.

"It's in two weeks, Sunday next to the next. There is a small concert as well where 5SOS is performing as Micheal is a good friend of Zayn, my friend. So we don't expect you to perform but it would mean a lot if you joined us. And Jason of course you're invited!" Louis knew he was being too professional but he didn't want to sound desperate. He had this nagging thought in the deepest part of his brain that he wanted Harry to come but he was constantly ignoring it.

"I think I can make it, I'm off for the next few weeks, I'll see if I can perform something as well. I really like this hospital because it's very well equiped and the whole staff is very nice and helpful, not to mention the doctors are amazing. And some of them are really good looking." Harry looked at him hard as if to drive the point across. Louis had a feeling that flirting was like a second nature to Harry, but it didn't feel creepy because he felt harmless. Louis still couldn't stop blushing.

"Uncle Harry means you, he likes your eyes too." Jason provided without any prompts. 

"Well, that's very nice of him. I've never gotten as many compliments on my eyes before Jason, thank you." He tapped on his head. 

"You're very welcome. I will come too if Uncle Harry brings me to your event." Jason said while fiddling with the side buttons of Harry's cellphone to unlock it.

"You can come too, you monster. Now please stop embarrassing me." Harry pleaded in the end.

"That's okay, Harry. Thank you for your nice comments and for agreeing to come. My staff would lose their shit if I told them this so I'd keep it a surprise till the promo time." 

"Thank you for inviting me, I'd love to be of help in any way I can." Harry said in a soft voice. Louis liked the gentleness in his voice.

"Alright, I'll let you two be. I have to finish my work before the big match starts, my mates and interns are going to ruin my peace of mind during the match and I won't be able to work anymore." 

"Can we watch the match with you, Dr. Blue? Uncle Harry was just crying about how he has no one to watch the match with." Jason looked like that friend who spilled all your secrets in a gathering. Harry facepalmed. 

"You're always telling on me Jase, I'm never telling you anything!" Harry slapped Jason's arm lightly, in that moment Louis could see how theirs was a real friendship because Harry didn't treat Jason like a kid. Or maybe it was the other way around, maybe Harry was a five year old. Anyways there wasn't much of an age gap apparently. 

"You love me, you are always talking so you'll tell me things." Jason shrugged and well he was a pretty smart kid. Harry hmmphed loudly. He looked five. Louis felt a sudden sense of happiness that he always felt when he saw kids knowing that they were loved. He had seen too many abandoned kids that he could appreciate a loving and doting when he saw one. 

"Of course you can join us Harry. We can't let Jason into the staff room but we can come and watch the match here for some time in order to keep you guys company." He didn't want to disappoint Jason so he made a plan on the spot. 

"You don't have to disturb your schedule because of us, we will survive don't worry. Jason doesn't even care about football." 

"It's okay really, the more people the merrier. I'll see you guys in two hours." Louis waved and got out before Harry could say another word.


	4. Chapter 4

\------

Harry tried really hard to calm down the bubbles of happiness that erupted in him when Dr. Lou forgot to add Mr. to his name and called him Harry. It wasn't a big deal, the whole world called him Harry but this felt special. He knew Dr. Lou was professional but if he could have his friendship then he was sure he could convince him to go on a date with him if he was single. A part of him wanted to get over his crush but a bigger part of him wanted all of Dr. Lou's smiles and his gentle care directed towards him. Harry had never wanted to be pampered by someone so bad, he was always the one who was taking care of people but he just wanted Dr. Lou's care. He wanted his hands to run through his hair and wait stop, what the hell? He needed to calm his shit down. But Dr. Lou was the kindest man on Earth! How was Harry supposed to resist that? He only knew of strangers who were opportunity grabbing, greedy bastards. Harry had learned to not trust anyone in his industry through some very harsh lessons. So now if he met people with even tiny bit of goodness, he held on to them. But now he had seen this gorgeous man who was just made of goodness and he just couldn't help but feel an obligation to keep him around, just knowing someone this kind existed had already made Harry feel better about life. Additional bonus was the fact that he was beyond great with kids. He lived for them! 

Dr. Lou's invitation to join them for football watching was too much of a temptation to pass and well he didn't give him any choice. Harry knew he didn't want to disappoint Jason but Harry was thankful to Jason for doing him a huge favor by asking. He had kissed Jason on the cheek multiple times for that. 

Harry requested a janitor to bring some chairs and his request was fulfilled and not only two chairs were brought, a small sofa was also moved to the room from an adjacent empty room. He thanked the staff and waited nervously for the upcoming encounter with Dr. Lou. He didn't want to look desperate by ordering pizza or anything even though he wanted to because he had seen the doctor run around the whole afternoon in between the floors and didn't know if he had had food or not. But he'd have to smother his nurturing side for now which had suddenly come into view. He didn't want to make the doctor uncomfortable even though he knew he was doing a terrible job because he had flirted with the doctor multiple times which had ended up horribly. He couldn't help himself. But he had decided to behave now even if all he wanted to do was kiss him. Dr. Lou wasn't someone you could charm with childish behavior, he lived in reality and dealt with life and death on a daily basis, he was more mature than a common human being. 

But 9 o clock was so far away!! Harry was anxious because he didn't know what he'd do if Dr. Lou decided to let go of his inhibitions and became casual. 

He spent half of the time feeding Jason who was not a fan of bananas when they were a part of therapy and didn't like drinking liquids either. He had to think of different ways to make him eat and drink, he silently admired Gemma for her patience and learned that wanting babies was easy, having babies wasn't. 

He checked his social media accounts and it looked like there was a storm of notifications because he was apparently dating supermodel Camille Rowe, he had hung out with her only thrice, his label decided to make it a thing because anything for the fame. Harry had stopped resisting a long time ago and had accepted that as part of the package deal. He did put his label in its place if it things began affecting his personal life but for the most part, he just didn't care anymore.

It was 10 minutes to 9 when he heard loud voices and laughter from outside the room, he pulled back the curtains to see Dr. Lou slapping his intern on his back laughing openly, the intern whose name was Niall was in the middle of choking. His face looked red and he probably needed some help but Harry was mesmerized by the laughing face of the doctor. It felt like the sun had started to shine at night, the face actually radiated light and Harry mentally slapped himself. He was beyond screwed. 

They reached Jason's room and asked if they could come in, Dr. Lou still rubbing Niall's back who was now laughing hysterically as well.

"Our beloved Dr. Niall swallowed a bee on the way here because he was yawning like Tarzan without covering his mouth. I'd say that's the most embarrassing thing that has happened to him but that won't be true. Do you want to know what else has happened to him, Jason?" Dr Lou reached Jason and fist bumped him. 

"Did he puke after that? And yes please." Jason was immediately hooked to the story.

"Niall and puking? Nah not possible he would rather die than spit out anything that's remotely considered food." Dr. Lou shook his head and Niall didn't even look embarrassed. Harry loved the teasing side of this man and didn't have a slight jealousy pang that he wasn't the focus of attention of his. He did not really. 

"I know you're trying to make me feel bad Dr. Lou but ye aren't succeeding. Anyways, Mr. Harry Styles I hope you don't mind stupid commentary during the game, we are leaving the professional conduct on the counter for the match, we will pick it up on our way out?" Niall dropped down on the couch and got comfortable.

"I'm grateful for the company, but can we keep it PG for Jason here?" He requested.

"Of course, Dr. Lou would kill me here if anything bad even reached his previous patients. Even though he can curse his way to hell when riled up. I've yet to see how passionate he is about the football so I don't know what he'll be like." Niall informed Harry with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, Nialler you will witness that as soon as we get to the common room and Jason can't hear us." Louis sat down on the other sofa that was already present in the room. It had room for one person but Harry didn't think he could sit there and not feel intrusive. Harry had never been so self conscious before but he now knew that there were some people in the world who didn't throw themselves at the feet of rich superstars and he was thankful for the knowledge.

"Can we come in?" The hot model doctor suddenly appeared in the door and he wasn't in his scrubs. He looked hotter in his sweatpants and doctor who shirt and Harry felt his heart sink. He wanted to enjoy the game with his doctor (technically Jason's) but he wasn't rude so he didn't ask the others to leave. The doctor who hung out with Dr. Niall was also behind the hot doctor with one other guy. Why were all these men so good looking? Did they gather all the good looking guys to run the hospital? 

"Zayniee, what are you doing here?" Dr. Lou made a place for Zaynie on the couch and Zaynie pushed him back enough so that he could lean back on him. Zaynie was a weird name for a guy this handsome so Harry concluded it was a nickname. His insides felt like they'd turned to stone, they were too close and too handsy and Harry couldn't breathe properly. Harry looked away and he saw Niall looking at him closely. He turned his eyes away as soon as he caught Harry looking. 

"I couldn't stay at home and watch the game without you, you mmm." The doctor's hand muffled the rest of the sentence which was bound to be a curse. 

"Language Zayn, there is a kid in audience." He laughed. Zayn looked guilty.

"Sorry, you're Mr. Harry right? I mean I know you are but we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Louis' best mate in the whole entire world and he would be dead if it weren't for me. I'm Dr. Zayn and I am usually found in general surgery's OT." Zayn got up from Dr. Louis' lap and shook hands with Harry who felt like he had lost the ability to speak.

"It's nice to meet you Dr. Zayn. Have you guys ordered something to eat?" He asked partially because he was hungry and partially because he wanted to divert his attention from Louis-Zayn dynamics.

"Nope, btw my girlfriend would kill me if I didn't get your autograph." Zayn took out a prescription pad from his pocket and a pen. And what? He had a girlfriend? He wasn't with Dr. Lou? Why did it suddenly feel like there was oxygen again? His heart suddenly felt a lot lighter. He heard Dr. Lou facepalming loudly. He didn't know the reason for that but Harry felt himself smile genuinely for the first time since Zayn showed up. 

"Of course, I'll sign it for her? What's her name may I ask?"

"Perrie Edwards." Zayn provided. 

Harry was too happy because of the existence of this woman so he wrote, "here's to the person who brings joy to people she loves. Love, Harry Styles." 

"I'm sorry for taking the liberty, but I can see she makes you happy." Harry knew he was being cheap somewhere because his own feelings were involved but he was too relieved to care.

"Of course." Zayn also looked like he meant something else as well. He looked to Dr. Louis with very distinct expressions which couldn't be understood. The doctor rolled his eyes and mouthed something that looked like "fuck you" to Harry. He was now thoroughly entertained. His night wasn't going to be ruined anymore. 

"If it's okay with you guys, i would like to treat you all to a night of pizza and whatever drinks you'd like. You guys do such amazing work here, it's just a token of appreciation." He asked as modestly as he possibly could, now that a heavy burden was lifted off his poor heart he was going to enjoy properly.

"We can't have any alcoholic beverages while on duty, feel free to order anything you like. We wouldn't say no to free food." Dr. Niall said frankly. Harry laughed and picked his phone to order. The match was about to begin and he was lounging on bed with Jason who looked thrilled to be a part of adult world. He was sitting on Harry's lap and watching the video of Harry's falls again, the kid was obsessed with the video. 

"Dr. Blue, you want to see Uncle Harry fall?" The kid apparently hadn't forgotten the name. 

"I'm good kiddo, let us know when you're sleepy and we will go away okay, love?" He asked.

"I won't be sleepy, I want to watch the match. I want to play football when I grow up." He chirped excitedly.

"Do you wanna learn how to play? I play football with my mates, I can teach you some tips when you're feeling better." 

"Can I? Please please Uncle Harry?" Jason was suddenly wide awake.

"You'll have to ask mum but I don't see why you can't." Harry ruffled his hair and Jason hmmphed satisfactorily and settled into Harry who wrapped his hands around his tummy.

Harry couldn't help but imagine taking Jason to a park to play with Dr. Lou. He didn't want to imagine Dr. Lou playing football. At least not in front of everyone. But he wanted to take Jason to play with him, he knew he wouldn't get time because he was working on his album. It wasn't public knowledge that he was working on one but he was almost finished with his writing except for one or two songs. He was having difficulty with finding inspiration but his heart told him that he had found one now, most of his songs were written about fleeting feelings that he had mistaken for love, as a songwriter he had held on to those feelings tightly just to create art but a majority of his songs were about loneliness. Harry wasn't sure if the last two ones would be about loneliness though. He knew he had found his muse. He just had to ask his fans to listen to his album in the order it was going to be released.  
His fans were a dedicated lot, they'd been waiting patiently for a long time since the band and he wanted to share some part of his life with them.

The match began and the excitement was palpable, Harry was a big football fan but Dr. Lou looked a very passionate one, the moment Manchester United held the ball, his commentary started which others joined from time to time. Jason was looking at adults and the TV with the same interest.

Harry found Dr. Lou fascinating beyond words and he had to force himself to look at the TV because he knew he wasn't being ignored either. That Niall doctor even though totally engrossed in the TV kept giving him knowing glances. He was strangely perceptive. Dr. Lou had now forgotten all the civil manners and checked to see if Jason was looking at the TV before flipping off the referee for an unwarranted penalty. Harry couldn't help but laugh, it was amazing to see that even though he was also pissed at the way match was turning out he didn't feel pissed enough because he was too endeared. 

But he wasn't smiling when the half time came, Arsenal was leading by a goal and it looked like a one sided match. Harry was pissed at the players who had already given up on the game even though it was just half time. He was shouting alongside the other guys when a nurse appeared in the door,

"Will you gentlemen please mind? Kids are trying to sleep in other wards." She didn't approve of this arrangement at all. 

"We will be leaving soon, love and we will try to keep it down." Dr. winked at her and Harry felt more angry because apparently Dr. Lou handed out pet names like they didn't matter and he also was kind to everyone. She rolled her eyes and left the room.

"We'll have to keep it down mates, Cynthia will have my head otherwise. Jason buddy, do you want to sleep? Should we go?" His whole demeanor changed when he talked to kids. 

"No, I don't want to sleep. I want to watch the match." Jason said seriously.

"Okay, darling but let us know when you feel sleepy okay?" He said in a low voice. 

"Okay, Dr. Blue." 

Zayn raised his eyebrows from where he was sitting almost in the doctor's lap. He just shrugged. 

The second half wasn't any better and by the time Arsenal scored its third goal, they were so disappointed and sad that they couldn't even enjoy the pizza and fresh fruit juices that Harry had ordered. Harry had wanted to order the best because he had seen how hard these doctors worked, one doctor in particular. He had no idea when all these motherly feelings came from but he had never experienced such urge to care before.

They all stood to leave and thanked him for letting them crash. Dr. Louis stayed behind to chat with Jason and check his dehydration. He kissed Jason goodnight which wasn't something doctors did. He then thanked Harry for hosting them. Harry just wanted him to stay for a bit more with him but he decided not to push his luck. 

"Thank you for keeping me company, doctor. It was very kind of you." Harry meant what he said but the doctor waved his hand as if it wasn't a big deal. 

"It's no problem. Have a goodnight sleep. Let me know if you need anything. We don't have five star hotel level facilities but we can make our guests feel welcome." Harry was sure he was imagining things because Dr. Louis didn't just wink at him. He felt his knees weaken, what was wrong with him? He was wishing for this to happen some time back and now that it had happened, he was acting like a teenager with a crush.

"Trust me when you're living in hotels by yourself, you crave company a lot." Harry didn't mean anything by that but the insinuation made him blush. Dr. Louis didn't look like he noticed much. 

"Well, I'm glad I could bring company to you then." He smiled and waved him goodbye as he left the room. 

Harry flopped down on the couch and sighed loudly. But apparently he wasn't the only one with Dr. Lou on his mind. 

"Uncle Harry, will you take me to play with Dr. Lou? You always go somewhere but you don't go out with me." Jason spoke suddenly, startling Harry. The universe seemed to be conspiring against Harry's self control. He couldn't say no to Jason when he was asking him such questions so innocently now could he?

"Of course Jase, I'll take you as soon as we arrange something once you're better." Harry didn't know if the person he wanted the number of would be willing to give personal information. But it was worth a try. He was worth million tries if it meant Harry getting to be with him.

He pulled out his journal from his handbag that he took everywhere because inspiration can strike you anywhere right? And it's better to jot down words whenever they strike you. He could only write one sentence though,

"The sky never looked so blue." 

Like Jason he had given his heart to those blue eyes as well. He had never seen blue eyes that shone like Dr. Lou's. He knew he'd never forget them.


	5. Chapter 5

\----------

Louis reached Zayn who was now lounging in the doctor's room and hit him around the head. 

"Ouch, what was the for, you ass?" Zayn rubbed his skull.

"For not pretending to be my boyfriend and giving Harry the information that you have a girlfriend." Louis rubbed his eyes because he was a bit sleepy and needed a coffee to stay up now. He didn't sleep on calls even though he was allowed to. 

"How else was I going to get an autograph for Perry?" Zayn looked curious and Louis flipped him off.

"As if you couldn't come up with any relation? You couldn't say a sister or a friend?" Louis sighed.

"No, I didn't want to cockblock the guy who looked at you as if the sun shone out of your eyes. He's so into you, why can't you see that? I told him to truth because he looked like he was being poisoned when I sat in your lap, I didn't want to ruin the game for him. He looked excited to be spending time with you, I'm not that heartless!" Zayn was more wise than people have him credit for, he looked brooding and mysterious but in reality he was really kind and perceptive.

"I don't care man, I don't like him like that and I'm definitely not putting myself out there for a superstar who might not remember me the next season. I respect myself too much to put myself through that kind of pain. Besides he's with a patient, that's unethical!" Louis couldn't believe he had to explain all that to Zayn, the only person who was more protective of Louis than Louis himself. They'd been friends for a long time and they loved each other like brothers. 

"You can't assume those things without trying, I'm not saying that you should date him. That might be a bad idea but maybe you can test the waters to understand the depth of his feelings without the childish "pretending you have a boyfriend" shit. Just talk to him a bit more frankly and not too professionally." Zayn's advice did sound sane but Louis wasn't going to admit that.

"Whatever, I'll see what I can do but I'm not giving him any hope because I'm going to see how he is as a human first, and if he doesn't behave like a decent human being then no dating will ever come out of it." Louis knew he sounded like a judgemental prick but he also knew dating assholes would lead to more trouble than pleasure. He was looking out for himself and by extension Zayn because he would be the one to nurse him back to health. Zayn should be thankful, what the hell?

"Fine with me, you're insufferable as a date by the way so you should have paid me to be your pretend boyfriend even for 5 minutes." Zayn yawned as he laid down on the couch. 

"Whatever, if you weren't straight as a ruler you'd have wanted me so bad." Louis didn't bite back any retort. Not with Zayn.

"Code Blue. Dr. Louis to ward 8, Dr. Louis to ward 8" The loud speaker suddenly blared in their ears.

What the hell? Louis looked at his pager and then called the number.

"What is it? Dr. Louis here." He asked the on duty staff.

"Aspiration by bed 10 after vomiting." The nurse informed. 

"I'll be right there." Louis started walking fast towards the ward. He hoped he didn't have to run a crash call on the patient and it was just aspiration that could be handled with a little suctioning. 

Staff had already started doing their work but the patient's heart rate was dropping. He was a 10 month old boy with cerebral palsy, Louis' heart hurt for the boy. The kid was dropping saturation as well, even though staff had already started the protocol. He wasn't improving even after suctioning and nebulization. His random blood sugar was also dropping. Louis addressed the hypoglycemia first and then asked the staff to put the kid on a beta agonist via inhaler to try and raise the heart rate, but that didn't work. The saturation and heart rate kept on dropping. He had to call the crash team meanwhile he started running CPR protocol. The patient was developing cyanosis and Louis could hear the crying mother. He ran the crash call till the crash team arrived. He still led the call while the team started doing their job. They lost the patient for two seconds in the middle but in the end they managed to revert the patient. They intubated the patient and moved him to ICU. Louis sighed with relief as he reached behind the counter to sit while writing crash call notes. The adrenaline rush that was usually associated with a crash call was wearing off and Louis suddenly felt empty and bad. He knew he had to present patients to the consultant in the morning, the consultant didn't do rounds daily and residents dealt with the common cases, but the next day was the rounds day and he didn't want to hear criticism. But above all, the kid was already suffering, the crash call might have had saved him for now but he was just going to get worse and worse. Louis entered the details in both the handwritten file and the computer when he heard someone clearing his throat, Louis looked up to see a serious looking Harry Styles offering him a cup.

"You look like you might need some tea." 

"Thank you, I actually do." Louis took a sip, it was hot but he didn't feel too bothered.

"Tough duty?" 

"Yeah, just ran a crash call on a kid whose survival chances aren't that good. It's hard to see the patients' faces." Louis sighed.

"I'm sorry, can I do anything to help?" Harry looked genuinely concerned. Louis' eyes softened. 

"I think tea was a good idea, thank you. It's more than enough. Is Jason asleep?" Louis got back to entering the data as the ICU's doctor was waiting for his notes. 

"Yeah, he was tired after watching the game. I'm glad you had some fun before because your job looks way more stressful than mine." Harry sat on the counter and if anyone felt like objecting, they didn't get to know because he was Harry Styles.

"I wouldn't call that fun, the assholes didn't even put up a fight. Sorry don't mind my language. Football is my second passion and well I'm too disappointed to care." Louis couldn't help but feel that Zayn had penetrated his mind and was working from some part of the brain to make him loosen up to Harry. He also found out that he didn't mind that. Weird.

"It's okay, I curse my fair share too. And I can see you're passionate about football. Were you serious about teaching Jason football?" 

"Of course, if your sister allows it. Kids and football are the two loves of my life. I teach some other kids too, I'll be more than happy to add Jason to the class." 

"He's very excited you know, so I hope you make a promise that you can keep. He'll be disappointed otherwise." Harry sounded careful as if he wanted to convey his message without being too rude. This tact was a surprise for Louis. In his mind, people who were in the place Harry was, didn't care for others' feelings much. But Harry was proving him wrong.

"I understand your concern, trust me when I say I'm good with promises, I hardly make any other than work, but when I do, I keep them." Louis reassured Harry and also realized he was feeling better after the conversation. Harry had distracted him from his worries.

"I'm happy to hear that, how will we contact you after the hospital?" Harry asked sheepishly but his smile was so friendly Louis couldn't help but laugh.

"Is it okay for you to give your number? What if I leak it online? I'm sure a lot of girls would love to have it, boys too." Louis joked.

"Well, you can but it would breach doctor-human confidentiality. Also something tells me you won't, but even if you do I'd take it as a sign from universe that we can either be best buddies or worst enemies. I love chaotic minds." Harry teased or more like flirted.

"I don't do enemies, I'm equally offensive to everyone other than kids." Louis was just about to close the file when Liam came around, looking frantic.

"What's wrong, Dr. Liam?" Louis frowned. This didn't look good.

"I was taking a blood sample of Mathew and now his bleeding won't stop. I checked his INR and it's deranged and so are his platelets. The site has been bleeding for 10 minutes now. Can you come and take a look?" Liam talked so fast Louis had to put a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'll take a look and then we will see if we need to start some blood clotting agents. Don't show nervousness in front of attendants, it freaks them out more. Show calm even if you're crying inside, you have to appear strong for parents who are absolutely losing it. Got it?" Louis was guiding Liam with a hand on his shoulder who was nodding now. 

"I'll catch up with you later, Mr. Styles." Louis called out to Harry without turning his head. He didn't see the smile on Harry's face or heard, "I'll catch you for sure" that Harry murmured to himself. 

\---------

Harry saw Dr. Lou and Dr. Liam walk away and he felt a sudden sense of pride because Dr. Lou calmed down his agitated Junior and he was gentle with him. Harry returned to Jason's room, who was still asleep. Harry laid down on the couch and tried to get some sleep but his mind just wouldn't stop reminding him that Dr. Lou was probably running somewhere in the hospital doing his job. Harry didn't want to be a burden and didn't want to push his luck but he had accepted the reality that his hopeless crush had turned him into a hormonal teenager and that he wouldn't sleep until he'd talked to the doctor again. After trying his hardest to sleep for a few hours he stood up and decided to go to the counter in front of the ward and sit in the chair in front of it and read or do whatever he could to make it look like he wasn't a loser. But when he reached the counter he saw a kind faced nurse sitting behind the counter, finishing her work. Harry decided to chat with her because why not? 

"Can't sleep Mr. Styles?" She asked kindly.

"I'm afraid not, hospital isn't an easy place to sleep in." He made up an excuse. 

"Yeah, we have a pretty busy night too. Dr. Louis has been in labour room for 2 hours because of a difficult delivery. I hope all goes well, he's an amazing doctor but he loves his patients a little too much and sometimes that takes a toll on him." The nurse shook her head and looked genuinely worried. Harry felt something warm fill his chest, he felt a sudden need to hug the doctor and say something comforting to him as soon as he could. But since he couldn't so he had to control his urges.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I hope the baby is fine too. Doctors here at great and Jason's doctor is pretty good with kids." Harry didn't want to appear too obvious.

"He's so great that a lot of single mothers and some married ones too have sent him proper date proposals. But he's married to his job which is a pity because he's gorgeous! It's a cruel game of fate that I'm happily married and can't chase him at my age." The nurse whose card said, Claire, voiced her opinion and well didn't Harry know that well! He also found out that whatever they showed in TV shows about hospitals having their fair share of gossiping was true. He wanted to find more but didn't feel comfortable. 

Suddenly a buzzer went off at the counter, Claire looked at the number and frowned, she stood up and went to check on the patient. Harry sat at the chair and started reading his book. He heard voices coming from the end of the corridor and a laughter that was distinct and his heart sped up. Dr. Lou sounded happy so the baby was probably out of danger. Harry didn't know he could care about someone's mood changes as much as he did of the doctor. Dr. Lou came into view with Dr. Niall who was properly giddy. Their words reached his ears:

"That was mental, absolutely mental Dr. Lou. The baby was in such a bad breech but the gyno was amazing. She's also good looking, do you think she would go out on a date with me?" Niall apparently changed topics with the same speed that he walked and ate with. 

"Niall, stay away from her. She is pretty nice and she is from my class. I'm going to lock you in a bathroom if you think of messing with her!" Louis warned in a playful voice.

"Come on Dr. Lou, one date is all I'm asking for. The way she took the baby out and saved the mother while doing so was hot to watch." Niall whined. 

"You're an idiot. Talk to me about her in two days when you're not as impressed and maybe I'll consider it." 

"Are we in that part of our relationship yet where I can kiss you?" Niall looked way too grateful. Harry knew it was a joke but he still felt jealous and helpless. 

"No, absolutely not." Dr. Louis kept on laughing. They spotted Harry at the end of their walk and came to stand in front of him.

"Hello, Harold how are you doing this fine evening?" Dr. Lou looked very happy and this change was astonishing, Harry concluded that a doctor's mood was a lot of times influenced by how their patients were doing and he felt awed. And well, Dr. Lou gave him a nickname, it was worth it to sit like a lost puppy waiting for its owner in a hospital corridor.

"It's 3:30 am Dr. Lou, it's hardly an evening." Harry had a stupid grin on his face, he knew that but he didn't care.

"Well, why aren't you asleep? Couch too uncomfortable? We can move Jason to deluxe ward if you'd like. I was expecting you to actually choose a deluxe ward." Dr. Lou was sharing his opinion in a non judgemental way, which meant he had let down his professional barriers for Harry a bit and had allowed him to enter friend zone. Harry had no intention of staying limited to that but all in good time.

"Nah, Gemma stops me from doing anything extravagant for Jason because she wants him to live his life as normal people and not as some rich spoiled kid. He's a pretty great kid and I don't question her motherly instincts. If I'd thought there was a problem with the room I'd have definitely asked for a better one. But the one we have is good enough." Harry meant every word he said and didn't want to sound like a pretentious person but in his heart he was hoping to impress Dr. Louis. And it looked like he had succeeded to some extent, Dr. Lou was looking at him with an expression that was a mixture of kind and fond. Harry felt his heart soar. 

"You're not a bad person Styles and I'm really happy to have met you in real life." 

Harry found himself smiling like an idiot. 

"I'm glad to have met you too." 

"Ahem, ahem, Dr. Lou, not to disturb you guys but I think Nurse Claire is motioning you to go to the ward." Niall pointed towards to the ward to show Dr. Lou what he was talking about as if his words weren't enough. He was teasing them and Harry liked it. He could get used to being teased about this beautiful inside and out doctor.

"Shit, she's with Lucy." Dr. Lou almost ran into the ward and Harry remembered the little girl who he had seen the first day in ward hugging the doctor. His heart started racing, he hoped the kid was okay. 

He was still praying when he entered Jason's room and dropped down on the couch. He didn't know he could feel so many emotions in a single day, he had no idea how doctors did it He was fell asleep exhausted, aware that his doctor was still far from done for the day.

\------

Louis felt his heart stop when he saw that Lucy was unresponsive. He told himself to pull his shit together and then checked her pulse and breathing, everything else was fine she just was unresponsive. Her eyes were open and fixed at a point. She had no history of epilepsy but given her mineral imbalance due to her condition it wasn't unheard of. He asked the nurse to prepare anti epileptic medicine for her absence seizures and after the initial dose, she started moving her eyes and a few minutes later moved her hands and feet. Louis breathed a sigh of relief, after ordering labs, EEG and MRI he checked her status. She had started crying and Louis had never heard a more beautiful sound. 

"It's alright, love. I'm here." He hugged her and thankfully she hugged him back. After she stopped crying he went to check on the mother who was silently weeping. He told her the good news and comforted her. She held his hand and thanked him passionately. He shifted Lucy to high care ward which was for patients not eligible for ICU but still required monitoring. She had fallen asleep due to medicines. She hadn't developed any complications thankfully. Niall was helping him throughout and helped in moving Lucy. Louis asked him to go and get some rest. He expressed his interest in helping Louis finish up the work and Louis wasn't about to deprive himself of his cheerful company. They did a round of all the wards and private rooms. Louis checked on Jason who was sleeping peacefully and he couldn't help but look at the superstar curled up in a ball on couch even though there was enough room. He wondered what would he have done if Niall wasn't there? Would he have covered Harry with a blanket because his heart was urging him to do so? He didn't want to ponder over that.

Niall apparently didn't have any sense of personal limits and Louis was thankful for that because Niall took out an extra blanket and covered Harry with it giving Louis a grin. 

"You're welcome, Dr. Lou." If Louis wasn't so aware of his surroundings, he might have had missed that. 

"Stay in your limits kiddo." He tried to sound authoritative but failed miserably because he didn't really mind the teasing and what the hell?

They got out of patients area and entered the staff room. Louis asked the on duty nurse to page him for any problem and closed his eyes. Today had been an emotional roller coaster. Lucy's transfixed face kept coming back into his mind to haunt him. He hoped with all his heart that this was a one time event. 

He got up 15 minutes later to finish his work for the day of his research. He was still lagging behind his schedule and he needed to make more time for his academics. He checked his emails and phone and finished his rounds summary. He didn't want his consultant to insult him in front of interns even though they didn't anymore and they trusted his judgement but they were unpredictable. Louis didn't want to take the risk. With an hour to spare, he put on some music on his phone and closed his eyes to rest for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> It might take longer to finish this than I anticipated because of the details, I'm having too much fun writing this.


End file.
